Akash Deep last played in the Ranji Trophy semifinal in February and, after seven months of rehabilitation, he will get a chance to prove his fitness as well as regain some bowling rhythm.At least two national selectors will be in attendance and will keenly watch Akash, who is in contention to become the fifth pacer for the New Zealand-bound Test squad alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar, if all remain fit. Having laid low for seven months due to a lower-back stress fracture, talented pacer Akash Deep will look to go full throttle for the Rest of India against Ranji Trophy champions Jammu and Kashmir in the Irani Cup fixture starting Thursday.
At the picturesque Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, the Rishabh Pant-led side, featuring multiple international players and some prolific domestic performers, will take on the home team, which will miss its primary bowler, Auqib Nabi, who is currently on national duty. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the Irani Cup used to be a trial game for India hopefuls and a place in the Rest of India squad meant that a player was virtually knocking on the national team’s doors. Because one national side is playing T20 cricket at the Asian Games, while another senior team is involved in an ODI series against the West Indies, gone are those days and the Irani Cup is just another game in the BCCI’s cramped calendar, more so.
For a lot of these Rest of India players, the Irani Cup is a match to get into the India A squad rather than the main team, where 90 per cent of the picks are already settled.
The next batch of fringe players is involved in an India A “Test” fixture against Australia A in Puducherry and hence the Irani Cup is more about the likes of skipper Rishabh Pant getting game time and new spin sensation Manav Suthar also trying to force his way into the New Zealand Test squad as the third spinner.
